PM reveals details of talks with Bush in 2005

New Delhi, Aug 18: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had made it clearto US President George W Bush, during their negotiations on thehistoric July 18, 2005 India-US agreement on civil nuclear energycooperation, that India could not agree to a bilateralNon-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) or Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).

''We have a unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing and we willexercise restraint,'' he said in an interview carried in the latestissue of India Today.

The magazine said the Prime Minister had talked to it on his wayback from the G-8 summit in Germany in June with the understanding thatexcerpts could be published once the 123 agreement was reached.

''President Bush told me (in July, 2005), don't expect me to helpyou to build bombs. I told him I didn't expect the US to do thatbecause with our previous achievements we didn't need anyone's help,''he said.

Dr Singh explained that the deal, which is now the subject of amajor political controversy in India, was a ''logical fallout'' of thenext steps in the Strategic Partnership that the NDA government hadbegun with the US. ''It was an outcome of that process,'' he stressed.

He said the deal would help India meet its targets for nuclearpower. ''Nuclear power is critical to our energy security if we want tobe a world power....We had set a target of 10,000 MW of nuclear poweralmost 35 years ago and now we have only around 3,700 MW,'' he pointedout.

On Iran, Dr Singh said he had told the US President that India could not be a cheerleader or be part of a warmongering group.

''The nuclear dispute with Iran should be resolved through peaceful processes, through the IAEA and no threats,'' he said.

The Prime Minister said it was not in India's interests for Iranto become a nuclear weapons power. ''But as an NPT member, it has aright to have nuclear energy,'' he said.

Dr Singh said he wanted to be transparent about the Indo-USnuclear deal because ''of the deep suspicions about the US among ourpolitical, intellectual and scientific class.'' ''In Parliament, wedrew red lines on the deal that we wouldn't cross. I even toldPresident Bush that just as he has a Congress, I have one too. Mycommitments to Parliament acted as a disciplining force without whichwe would have been vulnerable while negotiating with the US later,'' hesaid.

The Prime Minister said he had great respect for India's nuclearscientists. ''Although they don't have a veto on the deal, I felt weneeded them to be on board. They had faced the bad side of the US--theisolation and the suspicion---and I had to take them along,'' heexplained.

Dr Singh said he felt dreadful about a world full of nuclearweapons. ''Now there are even dangers of a dirty bomb and non-stateactors using it. The world could end up with a catastrophe anduniversal nuclear disarmament is a must,'' he said.

The Prime Minister said he was disappointed by the attitude of theBJP. "It requries a big leap in approach...They didn't even believe Iwould last as the prime minister and some leaders even did haans that Ishould die on a certain day. But I have faith in a higher force. Ibelieve it was my destiny to be the prime minister.

I have the courage of conviction,'' he said.

According to Dr Singh, President Bush was a very easy person todeal with. ''He puts you at ease and listens carefully. He is very niceto me, and of all the US Presidents, he is the friendliest towardsIndia,'' he remarked.

The Prime Minister said that though the US had become the solesuperpower almost 15 years ago, no Indian government had the courage tochange the country's policy towards Washington.

''When we did a foreign policy review, we felt, in a globalisedworld, Indo-US relations were the key and we needed to give them thehighest importance. We have stayed that course,'' he said.

He emphasised that India believed in being friends with allcountries. ''The guiding principle is to resolve disputes withoutcreating fear and uncertainty. On Pakistan and China, we are ontrack.'' ''In Indo-US relations, the nuclear issue was an irritant andthe deal works towards removing that,'' he said.

While expressing satisfaction over the fact that India and Chinawere today mentioned in the same breath at international fora, he feltthere was no scope for complacency. ''We can't take our place in theworld for granted. We need to work harder, harder, harder,'' hestressed.

UNI